Wild animals in Quilmes

By Eric Weil / Sportsworld

Hooligan fans are getting wilder and wilder and it is difficult to understand why they are not in cages like animals in the zoo which are probably less aggressive.

Last week’s scenes at the Quilmes stadium and the terrible pictures — one man kicking another in the head although he was already unconscious, etc. — were enough to prove the point. Another had a screwdrive stuck into him and another a case of beer thrown at him.

Reports spoke of a free zone left by police to let the hooligans get on with it and there were no arrests. Seven men were taken to hospital, but not watched and two escaped without doctors letting them go. The media photos showed faces clearly of several hooligans and they could have been easily identified.

Quilmes’ president, Senator Aníbal Fernández, who is also president of the Argentine Hockey Confederation, said some time ago that these people must be banned from entering stadiums, but strangely — or perhaps not so strangely — he acted like other club presidents and did not have the club’s hooligans put on the list banning entry. Last week he said they are criminals and must be put in jail. Yet one of the groups backed him when he was elected. Deputy Fernando Sánchez said it was all his fault.

According to investigations by a local sports paper, one group, which calls itself the “official” one, is close to Jorge Tejo, an official of the present Quilmes mayor. The other group campaigned for mayoral candidate, Daniel Gurci and also for Fernández when he was elected club president.

But the fighting was not about that, but the usual causes — business! The booty is 200 match tickets (who provides them and does Fernández know?), car parking and food stalls in and near the stadium and the best places to sell drugs.

Lamentably, bad behaviour by spectators at several local amateur sports is growing as they become more popular. It is seen in rugby and field hockey’s disciplinary committee had to deal with crowd behaviour more than ever last season. The next step are hooligan groups.

One wonders what will happen if Quilmes reach the men’s hockey title playoffs — which is quite likely — and some of the Quilmes hooligans turn up?